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We Must Stop Our Out of Control Spending

What we needed today was a bill that set us on a responsible and sustainable course for a stable future.

However, today we voted on a piece of legislation that circumvented the legislative process and cut out the input of the American people.

I have not been in Congress for decades; I joined Congress just 10 months ago. Today we voted to try to deal with a problem that has been building not for months but for decades – out-of-control spending and unrestrained debt.

If raising the debt ceiling were the solution to our problems, Congress would not be revisiting this issue year after year. That said, risking default of our Country’s obligation is not the real solution either.

What we truly need, is a more thoughtful, long-term approach to solve the real problem -spending growth that is outpacing economic growth and driving our nation further and further into debt. A debt our children will be forced to grapple with if we do not act.

My seven children are the reason I am in public office, yet every day I watch as their financial obligations to this country grow larger and larger. My youngest is in eighth grade and has his whole life before him. Unfortunately, because of the recklessness of Washington, at the age of 13 he has a nearly $60,000 cloud of debt over his head, through no fault of his own.

Future generations of Americans do not deserve to be hindered because of our irresponsible actions. They deserve an opportunity for a life even better than we had, something our parents gave us.

I am optimistic that with the changing tides in Washington, we can advance policies through an open and transparent committee process, which will allow Members of Congress – and the American people – to be informed on the substance and consequences of the legislation at hand.